Brazil's electoral authority has declared President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the winner of the presidential runoff held on Sunday, October 25, 2026, handing him a fourth, non-consecutive term. According to Pollar, Lula took 51.79 percent of valid votes, about 64.2 million, against 48.21 percent, about 59.8 million, for Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party, a margin of more than 4.4 million votes.
Flávio Bolsonaro has refused to accept the result. According to AsiaToday, he told supporters in Brasilia that it was impossible to recognise the outcome and that he would take legal action to have the election annulled. His objection centres on a last-minute ruling by Supreme Federal Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who extended voting by two hours nationwide at 5:01 p.m. local time on Sunday, just as polling stations were due to close, after transport problems left voters without rides, according to Pollar.
The extension was requested mainly by Lula's campaign, although Bolsonaro's own campaign had also sought a narrower extension covering five states, according to Pollar. The Electoral Public Prosecutor's Office opposed the measure, and the initial count was halted as a result. According to AsiaToday, the late decision caused confusion at polling places and delayed the count, with some stations already closed when the order arrived.
The result reverses the first round on October 4, when Bolsonaro finished ahead with 47.03 percent against 45.16 percent for Lula. According to Pollar, it is the first time since Brazil's return to democracy that a candidate has overturned a first-round deficit to win the presidency. Lula, who turns 81 on October 27, previously governed from 2003 to 2010 and again from 2023, and his new term begins on January 5, 2027, according to AsiaToday.
What happens next is a legal fight over the annulment bid, alongside the formal certification of a result that, according to the electoral authority, already stands. Lula told supporters after the declaration that his government would change the way it governs and give people a greater role in decisions, according to CNN's reporting carried by the LA Post.
Image credit: Ricardo Stuckert/PR, CC BY licence via Wikimedia Commons.